Southeast Missouri State is moving from metal keys to card access for outside entry at the university’s older residence halls, bringing three dorms up to speed with with contemporary access control systems and the rest of campus.

Per a report from the Southeast Missourian, when the university’s newer residence halls were built on campus, they were designed to include card access at both exterior doors and dorm room doors from the start. SEMU now is working to install additional card systems at the entrances of older residence halls.

The project is currently out for bid, and university officials estimate the project will cost roughly $130,000. The report goes on to state that the university expects the project will take the summer to complete.

Per the report, several other buildings on Southeast Missouri’s campus are already equipped with a card access system. The university will now retrofit Vandiver Hall, Henderson Hall and Myers Hall, with the new key card entry systems. Up to 500 students will live in the three residence halls, with an estimated 2,800 total students living on campus during the 2015-2016 school year.

University officials say that adding card access to its older buildings could be costly, with some doors needing to be replaced and wiring and card readers needing to be installed. SEMU is focusing on exterior accesses for now, as updating interior locks would require replacing all doors to make them compatible with the card-access system.

Southeast Missouri State’s director of residence life says new students lose their keys a lot. Moreover, the expense to replace a metal key and lock comes in at around $95 and could potentially introduce security risk, while administrators can deactivate cards in the event they are lost or stolen with a replacement cost of just $15. Moving forward, the university will continue to assess which buildings can use the card-entry system.